Patience and Gaming

Last night, Innuendo had the weekly "farm status" raid. Many brought their alts, and we decided to run Naxxramas for various reasons. As was to be expected, with a few new to the instance players, and badly geared alts, we wiped a couple of times. This was mostly related to the new players and not the gear so much, which brings me to my point. Patience is truly a virtue in a rewarding online game experience. We were all there once. Yes, I'm looking at you Joe Elitist who ever wiped EVAR and soloed Kael'Thas the day after The Eye opened. You were there once. All of us have had a period where we were unsure of how the game mechanics worked, or what "positive side left, negative side right" meant. We recently had a very good player join our guild. He's really a fantastic guy too, which works out very well... positive, good sense of humor, and generally very patient. After 2 wipes on Thaddius, he whispered me with the statement "I f*cking give up." This surprised me given how I'd repeatedly told him our progression status, and how we generally rolled regarding raids. Later, the new guildie apologized and we talked shop for a while. I have to admit at times that when it seems people just don't listen I become very frustrated with the game. After a while though, I remember my early days of raiding Molten Core and Zul'Gurub, how while I studied boss strategies I didn't really "get the big picture." We all have more fun when we help others to be better at their craft. Patience is a virtue. A temporary, reflexive flash of anger is understandable in such an environment. In the long run, however, those that are constantly insulting others because of the way they move their pixels without providing any positive input as to how they can improve have simply become too involved. Too obsessed with something that will be obsolete in a few years. You're paying good money to play a game. Have fun. Don't ruin the fun of others. That's really our guild's policy in the end, and the policy I base my playstyle around.

Totem Flow Chart

Really great chart from Healing Way. Blizzard has decided that we aren't allowed to use all of the tools they have given us (stacking buffs, etc etc) to win, so this is extremely helpful. Totems wiping already applied other buffs is just... well... stupid and lazy.

Gaming Addiction

A great article sent to me by my friend Tyler. As I was reading it, in my mind I was mocking him for playing a Bard and reading this in another tab. That's when I started thinking uh oh...

Rush Limbaugh

You know, I've been listening to Rush since he hit it big. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, or everything he does. It's fair to say that I agree with a majority of his opinions on life and government. Having stated this, he runs a very entertaining show, one that rarely leaves me disappointed for having listened to it. His affable demeanor, and comically high self promotion and confidence put the listener at ease and bring the humorous segments of his show to the front. But you see, Rush has a problem. Because he is a Republican, he is a racist. This is accepted as fact by the public, as it has been explained to them for decades by the mainstream media. I've stated before I have no idea how conservatism became associated with racism. National Socialism, in the modern American sense of the word, is a very "Liberal" idea. Socialism is clearly more a goal of the left than it is of the right, this is fact. Full governmental control is what the extreme left wing seeks. It's what communism and socialism are all about. The single reason people refer to the "far right" as Nazis is racism, because of course everyone on the right and conservatives are racists. Correct? To anyone with a brain, this is obviously incorrect. Levels of government control, and individuals opinions thereof, are simply differences in ideology on how nations should be governed. More government versus less government, simple enough. The overwhelming majority of mass media feel the need to promulgate socialism as the cure of all woes in society, they are companies and this is their right. What isn't justifiable is to flat out lie about those you disagree with on such a widely exposed platform, and count it as fact, defaming and ruining those who oppose you. The article that sparked this entry is here. Know there are people on both sides in society that can agree and disagree without defaming or attempting to ruin their opponents in ideology. I'm hard pressed to find any of them in the major media rooms of this nation.

VDH on Obama

The title of this post could cover any number of articles he has written recently, but I found this one to particularly good. VDH, for the record, is a registered Democrat. This of course means nothing in today's age of party ambiguity, but worth a mention for flavor and spice.

Cincinnati Cat Connection

So, in one of many recent attempts to find a good home for my cats I sent the following email to Cincinnati Cat Connection: Good morning, I have 2 wonderful cats, which I have had since they were 8 weeks old (from the same litter) and are now nearing 5 years of age. I love them dearly, however, my fiance is highly allergic and I need to find a new home for both of them. Is there a way I could have them adopted through your organization? If so, how could I go about starting this process, and what information would you need from me? I know that you're probably overburdened by the sheer amount of pets that need to be adopted, but I'd much prefer this route to many others, for the love and health of my kitties. Thank you for any and all information and help you can provide. -Chuck Here is their response: I am sorry - Cat Connection rarely accepts housecats - we are not a shelter, just a few foster homes. The most we could offer is to post your cats on PetFinder. In order to do this we would need their medical histories (they must be altered, up to date on basic vaccines and tested), and information about their personalities and up to three photos of each cat It is VERY difficult to adopt out older cats - most public shelters around here are likely to euthanize them immediately. I would recommend Zyrtec NAME REMOVED, CCC Seems to me that CCC is a very rude organization. The insult that I would trivially give up my two wonderful pets without exhausting every other option first speaks volumes to how they handle their business. Adding an over the counter allergy medicine "recommendation" went above and beyond. I wouldn't recommend them.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Thomas Sowell hacks into my brain and writes an article with what he finds. The Republicans and Democrats are nearly undiscernable as opposing parties at this point. They're too busy tripping over one another to spend as much of your money as they possibly can to notice what's going on in the nation at large.

Buddhism and Catholicism

A nice article on the similarities and differences between the two major religions. The methods that Buddhism incorporates to help one find their inner peace and selves have been integral to my own meditative practices. Update: Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-christian religions.